# List of Detroit Lions head coaches

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are currently a member of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The franchise has had 30 head coaches in team history, which includes its existence as the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (1930–1933). In the 1934 NFL season, the franchise moved to Detroit and changed their name to the Lions.
George "Potsy" Clark is the only coach to have more than one tenure. Three coaches have won NFL championships with the team: Potsy Clark in 1935, Buddy Parker in 1952 and 1953, and George Wilson in 1957. Wayne Fontes is the all-time leader in games coached and wins, and Clark leads all coaches in winning percentage with .679 (with at least one full season coached). John Karcis is statistically the worst coach the Lions have had as he never won a game. Karcis is followed by Marty Mornhinweg with a winning percentage of .156. Of the 30 Lions coaches, two have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dutch Clark and Joe Schmidt. Gus Dorais was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954. Several former players have been head coach for the Lions, including Dutch Edwards, Buddy Parker, Harry Gilmer, Joe Schmidt, Dick Jauron, and the current head coach Dan Campbell, who was hired on January 20, 2021.

## Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through Week 18 of the 2024 NFL season.
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| T | Ties |
| Win% | Win – Loss percentage |
| Div | Division titles |
| * | Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| † | Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Lions |
| # | Image | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Division titles | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Awards |
| # | Image | Name | Term | GC | W | L | T | Win% | Division titles | GC | W | L | Win% | Awards |
| Portsmouth Spartans |||||||||||||||
| 1 | | Hal Griffen† | 1930 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | .464 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions |||||||||||||||
| 2 | | George "Potsy" Clark | 1931–1936 | 74 | 48 | 20 | 6 | .689 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | |
| 3 | | Earl "Dutch" Clark* | 1937–1938 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | .636 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 4 | | Gus Henderson† | 1939 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| – | | George "Potsy" Clark* | 1940 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 5 | | Bill Edwards† | 1941–1942 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | .321 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 6 | | John Karcis† | 1942 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 7 | | Gus Dorais† | 1943–1947 | 53 | 20 | 31 | 2 | .396 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 8 | | Bo McMillin | 1948–1950 | 36 | 12 | 24 | 0 | .333 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 9 | | Buddy Parker | 1951–1956 | 72 | 47 | 23 | 2 | .667 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1956) |
| 10 | | George Wilson | 1957–1964 | 104 | 53 | 45 | 6 | .538 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | AP Coach of the Year (1957) |
| 11 | | Harry Gilmer† | 1965–1966 | 28 | 10 | 16 | 2 | .393 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 12 | | Joe Schmidt* | 1967–1972 | 84 | 43 | 34 | 7 | .554 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | |
| 13 | | Don McCafferty | 1973 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | .464 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 14 | | Rick Forzano† | 1974–1976 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 15 | | Tommy Hudspeth† | 1976–1977 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | .458 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 16 | | Monte Clark | 1978–1984 | 105 | 43 | 61 | 1 | .414 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| 17 | | Darryl Rogers† | 1985–1988 | 58 | 18 | 40 | 0 | .310 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 18 | | Wayne Fontes† | 1988–1996 | 133 | 66 | 67 | 0 | .496 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | AP Coach of the Year (1991) Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year (1991) UPI NFC Coach of the Year (1991) |
| 19 | | Bobby Ross | 1997–2000 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 0 | .474 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| 20 | | Gary Moeller† | 2000 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 21 | | Marty Mornhinweg† | 2001–2002 | 32 | 5 | 27 | 0 | .156 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 22 | | Steve Mariucci | 2003–2005 | 43 | 15 | 28 | 0 | .349 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 23 | | Dick Jauron | 2005 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 24 | | Rod Marinelli† | 2006–2008 | 48 | 10 | 38 | 0 | .208 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 25 | | Jim Schwartz† | 2009–2013 | 80 | 29 | 51 | 0 | .363 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | |
| 26 | | Jim Caldwell | 2014–2017 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 0 | .563 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| 27 | | Matt Patricia† | 2018–2020 | 43 | 13 | 29 | 1 | .314 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 28 | | Darrell Bevell | 2020 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 29 | | Robert Prince† | 2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | – | – | – | – | |
| 30 | | Dan Campbell | 2021–present | 68 | 39 | 28 | 1 | .581 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | |